ann12080 — Announcement

Café & Kosmos 13 November 2012

Galactic storms in the infrared universe

With the Herschel Space Telescope, astronomers can now observe the Universe in a new light, the far infrared. Thanks to its longer wavelength, this radiation can penetrate clouds of gas and dust which absorb the regular, visible light. Also, colder celestial objects, otherwise invisible, become directly observable as they emit infrared light.

Using Herschel, astronomers at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics have discovered huge clouds of molecular gas roiling in the centre of many galaxies. Their winds rage at over one thousand kilometres per second, much fiercely than the most powerful hurricanes on Earth, which peak at only 250 kilometres per hour.

These mega-storms are strong enough to blow away the entire gas supply of a galaxy. They can even stop the formation of stars, and halt the growth of the black hole in the centre of their galaxy.

After an introduction to infrared astronomy, Dr Eckhard Sturm (MPE) will explain this spectacular discovery, which is fundamental to our understanding of galaxy evolution, and will discuss it with the participants at the next Café & Kosmos.